Forrest's Sketchbook of Wondercanes and Dreamsicles.

[Forrestimel]

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[Forrestimel]

Well! I was on vacation for a good month, I got back from California last week and this is what I've been up to :) It was nice to have a break but even nicer now that I can get back to drawin every single day. Awwwwwwwwwww yeah <3

Oh and I got a Daily Deviation today for my Digital vs. Traditional piece :)

http://forrestimel.deviantart.com/art/Di...-345535221

[wla91]

Hey! This is awesome, great studies and observations man, keep them coming! :D

[nickmacey]

awesome work dude! great studies! keep doing what you doing!

[Forrestimel]

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[Forrestimel]

wla91 thanks :)

nickmacey thank you :D

So I have quite a few studies on here and I don't have what any of them were actually studies for on here, I'll show that in a couple of days when I finish it. Some of the studies were for a Wonder Woman portrait I'm working on, some is for my own personal project, and the rest is for a client.

So after taking a look at my studies and seeing how terrible they are I feel like I have to explain myself. If I were a person on the outside of my head and I saw my studies I'd think, "hmm, this guy isn't all too great at getting the likeness of people and doesn't spend much time on his studies." Which, you'd be right about one of those things, I don't spend much time on my studies, I spend just enough time in order to learn what I sought out to learn.

A lot of people look at studies as a landmark, or a sort of checkpoint to see how far you've progressed, which in some cases that's great; you can now copy an image better than you could copy one a year ago. But you have to see that it's more then that, the things you study don't need to be pretty, they don't need to be perfect, they are there for us as artists to learn while painting.

Take the image below for example... They look nothing alike. Now if I'd spent another hour or so on the image I know I'd be able to get my painting to look at least a little more like the actor on the left, but I'm not studying how to paint that actor, or how to make a photo realistic portrait. I went in to photoshop knowing that all I wanted to get out of that study was how I should go about painting black skin and what features are more exaggerated in the facial structure. Once I felt I had a good understanding I closed the image and opened the illustration I applied the study to, the face I had no problem doing and the technique and colors of the skin came naturally since it was still fresh in my mind. I can't stress this enough people, get the most out of your studies. You can study a shit load of anatomy, you can draw 100 arms if you want, but if you only end up drawing a couple arms after that and then call that good what have you really learned?

I'm not trying to say that the way I study is the right way, there is no right way to study, people learn in their own unique ways. I'm just informing whoever is reading this that you should think and consider what exactly you are drawing more. Ask yourself questions constantly while drawing. Why are the feathers on this bird so unruly? Why are the feathers on THIS bird so organized? Why is this that color and why is that this color? Be curious, it's part of the job.

Anyway, hope I helped someone with that. I thought I was gonna show my Wonder Woman illustration tonight but got some last minute crits which are always welcome so I'm going to make some changes and then show it which makes me happy :) I haven't posted in awhile, I'll try to leave less gaps between posts but my studies are rare and rough so I feel like I need to show more in each post ha :P

[crackedskull]

Nice studies, keep it up :)

[Samszym]

Awesome art and really helpful thoughts man, thanks for sharing!
Purposeful studies, not pretty studies, this is the way I must go >:O

[Wardy]

Awesome sketch book bro! Keep it going :D

[Tygerson]

Great studies! I love to see notes written on the drawings--it helps me to see a little of what you saw while drawing. Also, I like the expression of the lady with the gun better in the painting you did than the original. Keep it up!

[JakeB]

Nice thoughts about studying dude. I tend to approach it the same way. Learn as much as you possibly can, then move on. Like on the swan, why bother painting two wings? You already learnt everything the first time round. It's definitely working for you anyway, and that's what counts :). Keep it coming :)

[Forrestimel]

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[Forrestimel]

crackedskull thanks :)

Samszym Yes young Samuel, follow me in my quest for vengeance!

Ward217 Thank you :)

Tygerson I'm glad I can help :)

JakeB Exactly, and it's been working great so far

Here's some stuff yay

[Warburton]

Great updates Forrest, it's been a while since I last commented but I constantly keep an eye on your progress. This latest wonder women piece is sweet, your abilities with textures and lighting have come on leaps and bounds.

Interesting thoughts about the studies too, although it's pretty obvious and wieldy know it's all too easy to slip into that self conscious ego contest where you try to make your studies look as shiny and presentable as possible so they look nice in your sketchbook. It's almost like wanting to do your hair before you leave the house, although it really doesn't matter you still have that small part in your brain which worries about the way you'll be judged. The ironic thing though, for me at least is I find seeing the shitty studies with notes and scibbles way more interesting than the polished ones.

Lookin forward to seeing your new updates and illustrations dude, keep um coming!

[Forrestimel]

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[Forrestimel]

Warburton thanks man, I'm glad you like my rough stuff ha :)

Here's some stuff, I kinda just realized how much other stuff I work on but can't show (yet). I'm just doing a little personal project right now, that's actually what the forest study below is for, and I'm not showing anything until probably around the end of this month. All I'll say is it's exciting to work on :)

[MrFrenik]

it'll be interesting to see more when you can legally show it. no crits or anything, just keep doing what you do.

[Forrestimel]

Thanks MrFrenik :)

I've been painting I promise, actually quite a bit more then I usually do ha. I made a couple realizations recently.

1) My values are still shit.

2) The content in almost all of my portfolio pieces are similar or just plain bland.

Therefore I've been studying artists who I loo up to and have been dissecting not only the way they approach value but also the composition of the image. To help the content of my portfolio images I don't plan on doing any painting for my portfolio if it consists of a single character making a strong pose in a simple environment (because that's what I always do). I know I have ideas for other stuff, just none that are shaking me and screaming in my face to paint it for my portfolio.

I joined a speed painting group on facebook and hopefully if I keep up with these this will force me to paint scenes and actions other then just a single character. The first one is the bottom most image in this post, the brief was "White Devil."

[Kaffer]

Cool stuff! It's especially cool how you wrote down your own observations about the pieces! Inspiring ...:)

[Forrestimel]

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